Construction
of the Panama Canal was first started in the year 1880 by the
French, but their efforts proved futile for many reasons. For
twenty years they worked in dangerous conditions. The French fought
off mosquitoes,
diseases, and worked with dangerous and inadequate equipment.
Eventually, funds and manpower for building the canal ran out.
The French effort came perhaps a decade too early. The technology
for the right kinds of machinery and the right kinds of medicines
to overcome the harsh conditions of the area simply did not exist
yet. The United States picked up where the French had left off
and completed an enormous project, "the moon shot of its
day" someone once said. The engineering feats of the Panama
Canal were considered "ahead of their time."